ATLANTA — 11Alive checked back in with residents of a Midtown high-rise who spent nearly one month without water.
In August, residents of The Hue Midtown apartments - formerly known as 'Icon' prior to management change - reached out to 11Alive, saying management promised to pay them for a hotel during that time.
Jon Diggs, who has lived in the apartments for three years, believes the issues stem from when the pipes burst in Dec. 2022. Now, he said he and a few other residents are still waiting for thousands of dollars back.
"At this point, it's traumatizing," Diggs said. "Every time the water cuts off, I think, 'Oh crap. Is it going to be another December? Is this going to be another August?' Oh, and by the way, our water was just turned off last night, so we didn't have water for 24 hours."
Back in August, 11Alive interviewed another resident who said they had been living without water for three weeks.
The residents, who wanted to remain anonymous, sent us videos of dry faucets and shower heads. Google Reviews also painted the picture of what's going on indoors.
Property managers started offering residents a vacant apartment in Buckhead for one hour a day.
"The property is about 25 minutes away from the Midtown property," one resident stated. "They offered one vacant apartment for the entire Midtown building and one-hour increments to use the bathroom and shower."
They also provided water gallons for residents to use. A man who lives at the apartment complex said he tried using those but they didn't last as long as expected.
"Just to flush the toilet, it takes like two of those things. Those first couple of days, we worked from home, so we ran to Whole Foods to use the restroom. It was pretty rough," he said.
Finally, management offered $250 a night to spend on hotels and food per apartment unit when they were unable to provide an estimate on when the water would return.
"You have a two-bedroom or three-bedroom with multiple people, but you still only get $250 for all of the people that live in that one apartment," another resident said.
Diggs added that after several weeks, his total came to nearly $6,000. Almost four months later, he says he and other residents he’s talked with are still missing money.
“In looking at the numbers and the receipts, we found out it didn’t match," he said. "I was about 50% to 60% reimbursed, leaving 40%. I don’t know about you all, but that’s quite a bit of money for me that comes out of my savings.”
Diggs also said local management has told him the building’s owners, who – per their website – are based in Maryland, are now handling this.
“There’s a lot of tension and hostility between the residents and management. Just asking basic questions like what’s the turnaround time? When the water goes out, are we expecting it to be an issue like last December, or will it be an issue like this recent August when the water went out again for two and a half to three weeks?"
He’s lived at his apartment for three years and has always had a dream of living in Midtown, but now, Diggs said the complex's issues have clouded that feeling.
“A lot of the energy, the investment of who we are as people, we worked hard with the promise that we will pull ourselves out of poverty and that one day we will make good on that promise. Unfortunately, since December, property management, the owners of the building and the related crew have not helped us in keeping that promise alive," he said.
While Diggs would like to move out for peace of mind, he said at this rate, it’s too pricey to pick up and go.
“I haven't seen Atlanta prices like this, and I've been here for 20, 22 years now," he added. "I have never seen deposits upward, $1,500, $2,000, admin fees, to $5,300 application fees. A lot of these fees are nonrefundable just to move in and have a place to reside. That's a lot of money.”
Diggs believes more needs to be looked into.
“Someone needs to investigate structurally what's happening in this building... what happened in December? Why did it take so long to get things fixed? And then again, what happened in August? It seems like these points are connected in some kind of way.”
11Alive reached out to Hue Midtown and parent company Bozzuto provided the following statement:
The Hue Management Team was able to give credits to each resident who provided receipts for hotel stays, food, etc., during the time when the building was undergoing repairs to its water system. If there is anyone who was missed and has their appropriate receipts, the team would be happy to give the credits ASAP. We have been meeting and talking through each of their concerns to make sure that they fully understand their options.
The water was shut off yesterday for a final repair. Residents were notified well in advance. To make their experience as positive as possible, we had drinking water available, and served complimentary breakfast, lunch and dinner for each resident.
It is impossible to guarantee that there will never be another issue, but what we can say is that the problem from this past summer has been fully repaired.